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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095848">Luz Noceda, Witch of Nevada</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enforcer_Hank/pseuds/Enforcer_Hank'>Enforcer_Hank</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Madness Combat (Web Series), Original Work, The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Luz Noceda, First story, Good Warden Wrath, Kinda, Luz Noceda Angst, Luz Noceda Needs a Hug, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Original Universe, Parent Eda Clawthorne, Way Too Much World Building, world building</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 03:48:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,610</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095848</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enforcer_Hank/pseuds/Enforcer_Hank</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when you throw Luz Noceda, the quirky and loveable girl from the Owl House, into the aftermath of the events of Madness Combat and then throw her into the Boiling Isles after experiencing the human meat grinder that is Nevada. You get this mess...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For those of you who want to read these chapters before they reach this site, go to the story on Spacebattles of the same name. And there is where the inevitable side story will be. Be sure to provide any Constructive Criticism, no matter what is it, in the comments below. I'll really appreciate it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A/N: Hello readers, I am gonna present a new take on the Owl House formula in the weirdest way possible. This is the first proper fanfic of mine and I wanted to test the response from the larger community. Enjoy and suffer with me as we witness wasteland Luz... Enjoy1</p>
<p> </p>

<p></p><div>
  <p>
    <b>Prologue: Just Another Day</b>
  </p>
</div><p><br/><em>"The crimson glow of the tainted sky lit the long abandoned streets of this city, cars, buses, bikes and corpses long since forgotten from an age gone were strewn about and have since suffered the ravages of time and decay. Ancient buildings of uniform shape have barely started to crumble and break from centuries of lack of use, their walls starting to grow from moss and vines as nature retook its land. But such scenes are common throughout the world for it is barely healing from the mad wars waged in the name of the Auditor, the countless dead from those who resisted or deemed impure by its twisted standards, the very protectors from an age long gone had become the very destroyers in this new time. But life still lives due to their failures to succeed, man has become cold and unkind, its worlds devastated and peoples butchered but not broken. Roving bands of gangs wander from city to city, long forgotten bases of the Agency create their mindless foot soldiers and horrid experiments for a dead god, undead hordes consume all that they find and horrors out of man's nightmares hunt in the dead of night, but man continues to live in defiance. To the Icon of Sin and the surrounding territories lie the lands of the Parliament under the protection of the Marshall, a title given to the hero who slew the Auditor, and his Enforcers. This land, once called Nevada, has bee-"</em><br/><br/>*Inhuman chirping*<br/><br/><em>"Shit," </em>Luz Noceda thought as she ceased her inner monologue and stayed silent from behind the rusted car she was hiding on the north end of the street, fear and hesitation running through her being as she tried to recall which horrors made such sounds. The ancient rifle within her hands feeling heavy as he peeked from cover to see her potential foe and froze seeing it's mutated form</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was that of a Cell Brute. Its armored carapace body was a dark grey and its multitudes of eyes searched for any disturbance within its sight, its terrifying visage was made only greater by the salvaged armor and makeshift blade in it's grotesque hands. Luz slowly but carefully lowered her head behind and let out a quiet breath, making sure not to make much noise to attract the monster's attention.</p>
<p>She knew that the Cell hunted in swarms and were active where there were stronger forces, something was here and attracting them, albeit in smaller numbers for their hive mind. Knowing she needed a plan she reached into a satchel at her side and pulled out a purple and gold tome, on the inside was a small note from the owner that was ignored. Searching through the pages were instructions about curses, hexes, charms and general dark magic, considering the hell that had become of Earth it was pretty tame. She found the page she needed, one that detailed eliminating undead, pretty close... maybe? Either way, it stated that the swarm needed to be focused into a kill zone and there was only one nearby...<br/><br/>Making her plan mentally and already going over the steps, her location and basic variables that could interfere. Luz put the tome away in her satchel, secured her limited armor and backpack and levelled her rifle on the chassis of the rusted car, aiming for the brute's leg.<br/><br/>*THEUM*<br/><br/>A crimson lance of energy shot out of the ancient rifle and struck the cell's leg, incinerating the limb. The recoil on the weapon was minimal, a laser rifle had little of it. However, Luz was not able to see her small victory as she had already bolted towards east of her previous location and she heard them.<br/><br/>*Inhuman roars, buzzing and chirps* *Sounds of a dozen foot falls* *Metal scraping and concrete cracking*<br/><br/>Luz spared a quick glance at the horde on her trail and paled. Dozens of mutated abominations were chasing after here, leading them were several brutes, most armed with cobbled together weapons but at least one had a shield. Behind them were cell of similar appearance, but instead of armored carapace there was flesh as pale as white that bled an inky black ichor but still having the grotesque multitudes of beady black eyes. Very briefly Luz could see a more mutated form, all she knew was that she was dead of that four armed freak reached her. Soon she could see a fallen building coming into view, more noticeable was the lights signifying it was being used, somewhere around 100 meters was a messy, yellow line that was certainly not paint but that mattered little. Passing the line she took a deep breath and shouted into the skies.<br/><br/>"Agents, dissenters are here, eliminate with extreme prejudice and protect me!" Luz shouted as she jumped ahead and layed down in the ground before the sounds of overwhelming gunfire erupted from the barricade and the nearby buildings. Muzzle flashes roared as automatic weapons, energy or ballistic, unleashed their deadly projectiles, all whizzing above her body and into her pursuers.</p>
<p>The Cell horde behind her was annihilated, the brutes were able to survive the initial barrage, especially if they had a shield but a second hail of weapons fire erupted from the barricade, this one dealing more far damage than the other weapons and ripping the brutes into pieces of gory flesh, bloodies spots and fragments of bone and carapace. Soon the sound of empty magazines being discarded, trigger pulls and the dying screeches of the cell remained. Luz let out her shaky breaths over her near death experience and looked towards the figure rising out of the barricade, clearly the leader. Luz was ready to start relaxing before she heard another rapid footfalls, one had survived and was near her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>.<br/><br/>Grabbing her discarded rifle, Luz turned and fired into the freak cell she saw, its head disintegrating with a *THEUM* sound and its body falling to the ground twitching. when looked upon closer, its hands were seemingly disconnected and without limbs, its arms only being nubs but any Nevadan could tell that didn't matter when it came to them. As she got up, she turned to see the shadowed forms of A.A.H.W. personnel, the cloned soldiers ignored her as their leader descended from his firing position, smoking heavy machine gun in hand and a disturbingly please grin on his face.<br/><br/>The figure upon closer inspection was a Golem and was walking towards her, its massive hulking frame covered in salvaged armor, floating but 'connected' hands carried a massive machine gun, lifeless grey eyes, the inhuman and lip less face that revealed a row of sharpened teeth made for an intimidating warrior that few within the wastes would dare challenge. Luz lifted herself from the ground as the Golem stopped mere meters away from her, as if awaiting commands.<br/><br/><em>"Thank Christoph for they don't question their orders,"</em> thought Luz, she wasn't stupid enough to voice her opinions and suffer a hail of weapons fire.<br/><br/>"Golem XV-202, submit your report of daily events and casualties," Luz ordered, she wasn't sure what she was more thankful for, the fabricated Agency ID pinned to shirt or the lack of defiance from the Agency force before her, "After that, open the barrier and escort me to my quarters." She tried to remain as stoic as possible and allowed no fear to be present in her voice, in the eyes of these things she was barely tolerable as is, the moment they learned her more unique work was when she died. The Golem stood still for several seconds, its form tense while several agents appeared from the buildings, either to clear out the dead cell or to begin their foraging routines with their leader present.<br/><br/>"Daily events are as follows, three attacks from traitors were repelled, several sightings of undead and cell were reported and growing in frequency, only a single scouting party composed of humans was reported but it may have been more. Sever, Hack, Lead and Probe scouting patrols did not report back, in addition, one of the agents were killed by a ricochet just now, must have bounced off of a brute to do that. This one recommends we move our base of operations due to recent losses. We are now at 12% combat strength," stated 202.</p>
<p>It always unnerved the human girl me how these things were as mindless as could be but were able to memorize orders instantly, she ignored put the disturbing implications aside to decipher the current death count. Considering that the Agency wasted hundreds for simple companies and dozens for simple scouting patrols, the squads lost were anywhere from 5 to 20 dead... each. She didn't know where the actual Agency force was stationed and operating out of, likely in some random base nearby but there was only a small guard and the highest ranking officer present protecting the van she called a house, then again, a simple guard consisted of near a hundred agents and grunts, too bad the engineers were killed due to having a brain.<br/><br/>Luz merely acted on instinct when the 202 began to move and followed behind the hulking super soldier. Soon they were past the barricades to a rather barren plaza scarcely populated by concrete buildings and bunkers but that was not her destination, they passed these fortifications milling with grunts and agents, most sharing similar physical traits such as their floating hands but with pristine faces and grey hair instead of the scarred mess that was 202's head. Passing these fortifications was a somewhat imposing building that towered over the rest, a former storage house used to contain the Soldats with a rotating guard, you never know when those things could snap and start a massacre so it was smart to be prepared.</p>
<p>But again, Luz and 202 passed it for a decrepit looking alley way filled with trash, skeletons and some sort of black gunk that burned organic materials, safe to say it was often ignored but it lead to Luz's destination. After avoiding some of the more disgusting and overridden pieces of wasted food, the alley way led to a rather humble and untouched area and in the middle was a single armored vehicle with top mounted turrets, the sides having been scratched to remove the original markings and symbols for a poorly carved otter. There were a few more grunts wandering here but unlike their compatriots, these were more human like but still retained enough note to be regular grunts. Only their legs remained of their four limbs, displays of cognizance and the ability to recognize objects were among the few differences between these grunts and their brethren in the main plaza. A few waved her by but she focused towards the armored vehicle, seeking her asylum from the mad world if only for a few hours. Ignoring 202 stating he had completed his tasks for the day and his departure, Luz made her way to the back of the vehicle and opened the doors while pointing out. Two grunts exited the vehicle, formerly manning the turrets, and Luz made her way inside.</p>
<p>Within the vehicle was all of the amenities for living in the apocalypse, food storage, air conditioning, a secure location to sleep, a sleeping bag and a map display. She began her nightly schedule by removing and beginning to unload the backpack she was wearing of food, trading goods, medicine and water.</p>
<p>Next was the satchel at her side, papers about magick theory and application spilled out of the dull grey bag and along with the scattered pieces of paper was a purple and gold tome with a sticky note, she didn't bother to read the note, unwilling to bear the pain of remembering her short time mentor, another soul claimed by the hellish realm she called home.</p>
<p>Luz then removed her weapons and the bulkier parts of her armor, mainly the chest plate and leg guards, crawled into her sleeping bag without changing her current scavenger attire and fell asleep for the night, uncaring for the horrors she experienced for the day and unwilling to submit to the nightmares she was bound to experience.<br/><br/>The young Noceda thought about how her life became a living hell within her last conscious moments, how her parent's deaths left her without a home, family or support. The years surviving in Nevada and the harsh lessons it taught. She pondered about the possibility that there was a better world that this, a peaceful world that saw not the reality destroying carnage brought by the Auditor nor the cruel and bitter conflicts of humanity. She let out a small prayer to those who did what they could for her but still were taken by the sands of Nevada, her parents, Heffler her mentor, Randal her former caretaker and 202, or rather the man he was before his transformation. She eventually fell to sleep and entered darkness despite the mental pleas for salvation and the silent tears that ran down her face. After all, this was just another day in Nevada...<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>Under the dark crimson light of the Nevadan night and deep in the heart of a city, once called Reno before its 7th destruction and left abandoned by the Parliament, was the appearance of a wooden shack with a unique door that held a single, abominable eye. The inside of the shack glowed with arcane energies visible to the outside and within moments azure blue streaks of lightning tore into the structure, ripping apart wood and foundation as if it had offended it. This house was unnatural, impossible and thus reality would be restored of only partially. The door opened and more of the arcane light spilled out and an owl flew out in search of treasures and loot. While this occurred, the the normality restoring energies stopped their assault and died down, the house remained scarred and broken, now normal in appearance for the ruins of a once prosperous city. All of this happened while an uncaring being watched, it turned and left in a flash of midnight black energy, barely noticeable in the dead of night. The owl eventually returned, without anything to show for it's hunt and disappeared through the door this time the ethereal lights died with it and the door's eye closed and faded into a wooden texture, now hidden from the outside world.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A/N: Please leave any CnC for my work In the comments below, everyone is appreciated and if you like my work then the main fic can be found on Spacebattles, both my name and the fic under similar or same names. I also have some other work scattered there for those who want to find it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 0: Setting the Stage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p></p><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Chapter 0: Setting The Stage</p>
</div><p><br/>Luz awoke from her terror filled sleep with a silent scream, her vision being greeted by a dim, blue light that barely showed the interior of the armored vehicle clearly. She took a minute to calm down, reassuring herself that the horrid visages in her dreams were just that, dreams of a haunted mind. It worked partly but it was something...</p><p>Now, with her mind clear she began what could be counted as a daily routine of sorts, starting by getting herself breakfast. Opening the food storage unit of this modified IFV, Called Broker for some reason, she saw a sight that pained her mind but she was hungry and didn't care. Reaching into the cold box she pulled out some of the last of her provisions, barely enough to last the week much less the day, a sandwich, some apple pieces and half a water bottle, rationing would do little so she enjoyed her meal with as much enthusiasm she could. Checking the water storage and her medicine bag showed a lesser but still distressing sights, her supplies were low and in dire need of resupply. She didn't even bother checking the fuel display for the vehicle, the dim light becoming dimmer as the minutes passed by. The only resource not dipping into non-existence was her writing supplies, trade goods and ammo but stuff like the latter practically grew of trees.</p><p>Scooting over to the holo-map display she noted that over the years her surrounding locations have been growing less abundant in resources, mainly due to several groups now moving in and the rampant scavenging her own little army has been doing, few thought that for a force often found causing fire fights among themselves or their grunts they could not be found easily, not like they bothered to be quiet...<br/><br/><em>'Why was it silent?', </em>thought Luz as her mind raced with a dozen possible scenarios. The Agency, nor its members, didn't do quiet unless it was the Engineers that ordered it and she had them killed. She attempted to hear the outside world, hear any of the usual muffled foot steps made from the human grunts, the subtle sound of tools being used or if any gunfire was happening all the while trying to hide her fear, far too many horrors within Nevada could track distressed emotions. Hearing a creaking sound getting closer to the vehicle, she began to pack her things and adorned her basic armor, all the while an inhuman growling grew closer to her. Now fully ready, she turned to a glowing terminal used for one of the turrets and saw through its optics, what she saw filled her with terror.</p><p>There are a myriad of sights that one can expect from Nevada, zombies, experiments, murder squad or something from the nightmares of mankind but certainly none compared to the soul sucking dread she felt as she saw the corrupted giant or its posse.</p><p> </p><p>Front and centre was the towering form of a Cell Mag and below it was the horde it commanded. A large number of blighted monsters, oozing their blackened blood and coated with inhuman mutations that killed the men that were. From being able to turn the turret, and not be attacked for it, Luz saw the desecrated corpses of the grunts strewn about and in various states of bloodies destruction. Most were simply ripped apart from the teeming claws and fists, reducing many to a partly bloody paste on the ground. So to not become as such, Luz began to create a plan but she doubted that she could truly survive..</p><p>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/><em><s>'HUNGER,</s> <s>PAIN,</s> <s>DEATH,</s> <s>MANDATE'</s></em>, were the basic thoughts running through the gargantuan being. Its clawed hands aching to be used again for blood shed. The aberrant slaves of the Dark Titan posed no threat ti its blessed body and its form was too large to seek the bastion of servitude that lied beyond the filth ridden entrance. He could hear the bland souls as the milled about, without reason or care for the world around themexcept to further spread bloodshed. Soon they would fall of its brethren Mag was of any note and the roaring gunfire was correct. Its followers could pass the corridor but they would be cut down without a chance for killing and it didn;t help that survivors were present. It smelled more of the slaves within risen caverns of stone, begging to be slain and destroyed as they hid like vermin. They would die soon enough, this cursed land took all...</p><p> </p><p>*Aggravated screeching and chirps by the dozens*</p><p> </p><p>His flock was growing angry, their pain grew without the chance to kill and anger surged as flesh was hiding from their hands and he knew what was responsible. The metal box in front of it was hiding flesh and if need be then it would be torn to pieces for its accursed cargo. Finally the Mag's irritation grew when the cowardly slaves ran to the box and hid themselves inside it while crimson beams of light slew his followers, their forms cowering from the might of CELL. They would die a long death when he got his hands upon them</p><p> </p><p>The Mag then started to deliver blows against the armored vehicle, fists denting metal and scraping the flesh of his knuckles, as it ignored its own pain when the box started the spew out lead from its cannons, these turrets tore into the horde and ruined the face of the glorious giant, destroying its array of eyes. Lesser systems of the body failed and the giant collapsed against one of the stone caverns, caving it in and causing further damage as jagged debris dug into the giant's back. It could hear as the box burst through the dirty path and to the prey its brother had sought but the giant's form was barely awake, barely able to move with the egregious damage inflicted to its head. Seeing no other choice it let out a horrid screech of pain and distress. In its dying moments, it heard several similar roars reply and its flock run.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>Luz would be lying if she said she knew what she was doing, she just decided on a whim to open the back doors to the Broker and let the remaining grunts back in, it totally didn't risk her life as she opened the doors to the horde that often swarmed gun lines within seconds. Nope, totally no risks...</p><p>On the bright side she had the guns firing and 2 armed grunts to fend off any grabbers on the doors and for the worse news, she led the horde to the Agency force without real warning, which was already getting them slaughtered en mass. She didn't know whether to be afraid over the rapid response from the agents, the already present defense or the sudden approach of the horde decimating those closest to the alley way. Oh, and to make the entire situation worse, the Soldat storage building was already overrun, the soldats running lose and their overseers unable to do anything as thye ripped into anything that moved. <em>'Why does the universe hate me, what else could go wrong, seriously?'</em> bitterly thought Luz as several of the ATP enhanced soldiers leaped onto the Broker...<br/><br/>*Several inhuman roars ran out in the distance along with the slow building rumble of a thousand footfalls, the crumbling of ancient buildings and the cracking of concrete from laid down from centuries past and all of it followed by a discordant cacophany of chirps, buzzing, roars and bile-filled gurgling, the sounds of a fully realized swarm was near and approaching fast.*<br/><br/>Luz just had to tempt fate with that question and now she could only guess what was coming. She didn't really care for the fate of the base or its occupation force, she just had to find 202. Despite his blind loyalty and partial foolishness, it was still a Golem and you don't abandon those without a damn good reason. Using one of the small windows she saw the heavy soldiers holding the damn line against a small horde of Cell with nothing but his heavy machine gun alone. She moved herself to the drivers compartment and ordered the grunt driving, A-2, to drive towards 202's position. Soon enough, the Broker was near the 202 and opened its back doors. The grunts gunning down the crazed Soldats while Luz ordered 202 to move.<br/><br/>"202, get in the vehicle and protect your base commander, this fortress is lost and we must retreat!" Luz shouted at the top of her lungs. 202, hearing its commander's voice turned from murdering a brute with its own shield and ran towards the Broker despite its collection of injuries. The two grunts clearing, finished off the Soldars, lifted their weapons, a pair of simple ballistic rifles, and fired into those cell that drew close to the entry point. Despite the need for escape, 202 still managed to slay several cell on his way to the open doors and finally entered after throwing the previously owned brute shield into the skull of another Cell Brute. The doors closed to the hellish battle zone outside.</p><p>Luz could feel as A-2, the psycho, decided the best route for survival was to plow through the Agency defenders and drive through the horde. It surprisingly worked despite the fact they condemned the remaining survivors to death by breaking their defense...</p><p>She could feel as the Broker crashed though the Cell horde head on and the vehicle crush bodies under its wheels. Luz let out a sigh of relief before addressing the golem before her, "202, what the hell just happened?"<br/><br/>"I did say to relocate, I just wasn't expecting to do so so soon. I believe it is redundant to say but we are less that 1% combat effectiveness and most of our personnel are dead. The sudden Cell horde decimated our numbers within the primary defensive structures and secondary defensive structures, the Soldats were wiped out immediately and most of our weapons had ran out of ammo. From your paltry state it seems as though your own scavenging attempts have failed, civilian," stated 202.</p><p>I immediately froze at his ending statement and paled. Immediately the 2 grunts not manning parts of the Broker turned their weapons and aimed at me, their faces of partial relief turned into ones of cold hatred and malice, 202 remained as his normally grinning self but his eyes were of careful calculation, almost opposite of what one such as him should be capable of. But that should be impossible, the only ones capableof independant through were the older one...</p><p>He saw fit to give the girl another response, "Do not believe that you were so smart with that fake badge, unlike our more mundane and unmutated brethren we do have some intelligence, even with the 'upgrades' since, now, why did you see fit to deceive us for nearly a year?"</p><p> </p><p>Luz knew whatever answer she made would result in her death so she may as well be truthful before being gunned down.</p><p> </p><p>"I just wanted to survive," Luz answered confidently, if she were to die then she would retain her dignity, "Your group was under strength enough that if I posed as one of your operatives, I could have a place to rest."</p><p><br/>"I see," 202 said, his posture did not change but he did lower a hand to order the grunts to lower their weapons, they complied and returned to their normal state of indifference.</p><p><br/>"So what, you're gonna kill me?" Luz remarked, immediately regretting her choice of words she braced for the inevitable pain as the results of her foolish words but was confused by 202's next question.</p><p><br/>"No. Where should we go?" questioned 202.</p><p><br/>"What? I thought you were gonna kill me or something." Luz said with a grimace, confusion and fear present on her youthful face.</p><p> </p><p>"Girl, you are the only person who can ensure our safety to wherever we go. If that requires us to be your damn bodyguards then so be it, but you are Nevadan-born and bred, you're possibly our best hope to getting out of this hellhole as we're currently headed deeper into the city," deadpanned 202, the two grunts beside him nodded their heads in approval. Luz was unsure of the gesture but she was in the same boat, anything stronger than a small patrol and she was dead, regardless of the Broker's guns and armor.</p><p><br/>"We've gotta keep going," retorted Luz, seeing 202's inquisitive expression, and god that was weird, she explained, "The only reason the inner city is so dangerous is that humans keep thinking there's better stuff in the way, there isn't but that's for regular humans, not you guys. There's gotta be some Agency depots that remain unlooted still, right?"</p><p><br/>202 nodded at the Luz before looking around, "Maybe, show me how to set markers on the map and we'll be off."</p><p><br/>The next view hours were spent in complete silence between the group. The grunts never really spoke unless ordered to and both Luz and 202 were anxious of their destination. The Inner Core was a general term used to describe the deeper on got in a large abandoned city, the deeper you went and the greater threats you would fine. Anything from rogue Agency bio-weapons, giant hordes of undead, lost Agency kill teams, gang hideouts, name it and it would be there ready to kill you.</p><p> </p><p>Luz didn't ponder on such things, instead choosing to look out of a window at the passing scenery. She could easily see the dozens of billboards, all praising the AAHW for their work in stopping the Decimation, a time piece of when the Agency was good and under the control of Osiris. Buildings turned from lifeless, grey husk to apartment blocks and side stores made by human hands for humans, the sense of life these ancient ruins gave was refreshing compared to the ever present and dab grey the Agency was obsessed with. But this didn't stop the bodies from piling in ever greater numbers, from half a dozen to a dozen to two and then to large pyres being burnt with the cadavers of hundreds of unfortunate souls. Those dead that were already were left for dust and sand to cover them. It was the same scenes played throughout the world being shown again just with a new fresh coat of paint.<br/><br/></p><p>It took time for the Broker, no matter it's rather impressive speed, to reach the barrier. An invisible wall that alerted 'them' to any that crossed it. Passing it the inside of the vehicle was tense. . . and then the cries began to be heard, every scavenger worth their life knew to run when they were heard, it was the cries of the Old Kings, ancient warriors forever cursed to wander the dunes of Nevada and kill till the end. They were unstoppable, relics of war from an age of anarchy and chaos, harbingers of the apocalypse. Cell was among these horrid warriors, its body forever restrained and mind shattered, the blood it bled infected thousands and we still suffer for its pain and hunger, that was only one and most cities held dozens. Luz felt the Broker speed up as one such lord attempted to strike at the vehicle. Luz could not see the beast but she imagines that whatever normal, mortal form was gone, replaced by one of bulging muscles and blackened icy blue veins. It's favored weapons, once used as tools in life, were now mutated into its body and the cruel intellect of the fighter now served to hunt any who found their way into its sights. She ignored the heavy gunfire erupting from the turrets and the banging as heavy blows landed against the Broker's hull. Soon the cries died down and the gunfire ceased, either the beast was fended off or decided her group was not worth the effort.<br/><br/></p><p>Eventually the Broker came to a stop and the doors in the back opened again, Luz, 202 and three grunts came armed with weapons, prepared for whatever foe awaited. Awaiting them was a large imposing spire next to a singular large, building that had a large gate, the surrounding area was surrounded by iron fences, quite a few gaps in the perimeter were seen the main point to note was the massacre scene of humans in front of the spire's entrance but no Agency personnel were included...<br/><br/></p><p>"What is this place?" asked Luz, her sight was primarily ignoring the pile of dead but the smell couldn't be ignored, the only indicator that these bodies were fresh.<br/><br/></p><p>"Sierra Storage Sight C-54, it has fuel, weapons, armor and contraband relating to the powers you seem interested in," answered 202, he was only wielding a great sword in his armored hands, his machine gun having used all of its ammo escaping the base, "sights like these see little use and are more just dumps that anything but that doesn't mean its safe, we also dump failed experiments here, be weary."<br/><br/></p><p>Luz and 202 decided on a plan and a list of items they needed. Primarily food, better weapons, armor and for Luz, any tomes and notes she could get. Their continued survival depended on this place ebing well defended. 202 covered anything from a full staff of agents, engineers and other specialists awaited them. The possiblity of Mags and Golems was a cause for concern but as was the threat that the building was overrun by a horde of zombies, their undead forms being all but instant death for any who dared to cross them. Either way, it wouldn't be easy.</p><p> </p><p>The entry was simple enough, walking over corpses and opening a door wasn't hard. Turns out the defenders weren't that difficult to beat either, compared to their predictions at least, it was just a single auto turret placed behind the door that did so much damage, besides that were a few sleep walker guards that 202 dealt with easily enough. The main problem was the size of the building, to enter the storage facility one must go through the communications tower to enter that that's the top floor access only. Opening the gate can only be done on the inside so that was out. AAHW buildings, if not a straight line then they're the most confusing things. Eventually the scavenging party stopped in front of a hallway filled with dozens of locked doors, each containing a myriad of contraband or stolen items of various qualities and purposes.</p><p> </p><p>The indicator signs, besides for a random room which said 'Contraband,' had led to the situation of 202 having to bust down each and every door with his enhanced physique. The first few dozen were empty or sparse in terms of anything useful. Sure they were some rare oddities such as the preserved head of Rich, the most well known grunt, but besides that there was nothing of use. Other rooms were dedicated to knowledge, or rather that the Agency deemed poisonous to its goals, seeing as the organization was delusional in its goals, the various books detailing dictators and tyrants from centurues past was no surprise, just another note of how far they had fallen. The same thing happened in the other rooms, useless or empty though the ones containing food and machien parts was a welcome sight, A-2 seemed especially gidy when he saw the various engines.</p><p> </p><p>202 chose the 2nd last door they were break down as he merely busted down with his enhanced strength and inside must have been the weapons heaven. Laser rifles, ballistics and more advanced plasmid and thunder guns line the walls. Extensive collections of shotguns, smgs, pistols and explosive ordinance were a sight to behold. And the ammo, so much ammo that it had to be arranged in intricate towers. Luz could see that most of the weapons belonged to the Parliament, stolen from their supply convoys and patrols, but now they had these quality weapons for themselves. Rifles based upon ancient designs were discarded for highly advanced laser weapons and the heavy machine gun was replaced by a proper microgun, a weapon befitting a golem such as 202. Opposite to the armory door was one similar but instead of firearms it was melee weapons and armor, more than enough for the small group would even need. Luz was all but trying to decide which armored vest to take, her original one being a makeshift design that served well enough but paled to proper fabricated pieces, the leather armor for her legs and arms would remain as is and she refused to wear a helmet. The grunts were. Mismatch of armor pieces and visors, almost fitting that they refused to conform to standardization and taking more for those still aboard their transport. 202, on the other hand, wore armor standard for golems such as him, the plain grey suit of titanium alloys replaced makeshift metal and a caged visor blocked his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Luz was sure to take note of the quirks that were present within the grunts, named A-1 through A-5. 1 was the most balanced, simple and versatile was his theme. Decent armor, a decent rifle with a grenade launcher and a simple ballistic pistol, even now the iconic 1911 was still used in this day and age. A-2 was less focused on combat or rather he expected to fight with the Broken with auto shotgun in hand, he also decided to carry a laser pistol for easy handling, his armor was more of a mechanic's garb with a gasmask. A-3 and 4 seemed dedicated to combat, heavy armor and heavy weapons were their specialization. as they hefted a pair of plasmid guns and thunder pistols, the glowing blue barrels signifying the power of their weapons. A-5 was simpler and far more refined in a Nexus combat suit and a matching pair of shades, he had a similar load out as his leader but the pistol was suppressed. Luz also noted that 202 decided to take an additional thunder gun with him.</p><p> </p><p>Food was rare within the facility, food that wasn't spoiled was even rarer so they left with little to add to their storage, the same was with water to a lesser degree. On the opposite spectrum was fuel, like ammunition and equipment, was plentiful here but that paled to the final room she stood before, a single sign denoting it's purpose, 'Contraband.' It was strange, there was no rhyme or reason for what got placed here, weapons, armor, food but it was mostly books and reports. Most were useless to Luz, though she did not more than a few were about how to kill the Auditor despite how inane they were, for she saw her prize at the end of the room. A small collection of tomes, spell books and an autobiography all authored by Azura, the Good Witch, whoever that was. With their resources in hand, the group retreated back to the Broker, ready to embark onward to their next destination.<br/><br/></p><p>There was no clear goal after besides finding a safe haven and avoiding the Old Kings. Gangs and mobs mostly ignored the Broker, whether they were truly fearful of the armored transport or didn't see fit to attack was up for debate. All that Luz knew was that she had new reading material and a lot to catch up on. Luz fell asleep during the night, unsure of her fate but the least thing she saw before sleep claimed her was a nearly broken, wooden shack pass by the window. She fell asleep to suffer her nightmares but for once they were lessened, she felt safe.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>.<br/><br/>A shadowy figure stood atop a grand skyscraper, looking down upon all it could see. Interlopers had arrived and breached the veil imposed by the Kings. Observer saw reason to report his findings, service was rewarded by progression and progression meant ascension. It was greater than it's lessers, the humans, clones and the outsiders all had their interests within this cursed place but this was a new power in action and these ignorant fools would not interfere. With a snap of it's claws, several inhuman entities entered this realm, their singular eyes glowed red with strange energies and animistic intellect. Observer knew he would need to act soon but for now he waited and continued to observe, he would prevail, he needed to.</p>
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